STATE/LOCAL GOVERNMENT RELATIONS

The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:34): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for State/Local Government Relations a question about state government consultation with local government.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: In a media release, dated 11 February 2011, the minister declared that a new agreement had been put in place to improve consultation arrangements between state and local government. The minister went so far as to assert that the signing represented a new milestone in the collaborative relationship between the two tiers of government. Clause 7B of the agreement states:

The state government commits to consulting with individual or multiple councils on issues affecting specific individual communities or groups of communities.

In the same joint press release, the President of the Local Government Association, mayor Felicity-ann Lewis, stated that:

The agreement underpins the commitment of both parties to regular and effective communication, consultation and negotiation on the formulation and implementation of key policies, legislative proposals and significant programs and projects.

Last week, the month after the agreement was signed, the Mayor of Whyalla, Mr Jim Pollock, publicly complained that there had been a complete lack of consultation between the government and the council before the government announced an ammonium nitrate plant to be built at Port Bonython. In a ministerial statement tabled earlier today, minister Koutsantonis said that this is the beginning of the conversation. I ask the minister:

1. Does the minister agree with mayor Lewis that the agreement requires the state government to engage in the formulation of significant projects?

2. Does the minister consider that the failure to engage the Whyalla council on the formulation of the project was appropriate?

3. What steps has the minister taken to inform the cabinet of the commitments made in the agreement and counsel the Minister for Industry and Trade against the defend and deliver approach?

The Hon. B.V. FINNIGAN (Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for Gambling) (14:36): As the honourable member has indicated, the Hon. Tom Koutsantonis in another place has made a statement today relating to the Deepak project and indicating that he will be having substantial discussions with the Whyalla council about that particular project.

What is important in relation to that project is that, from the honourable member's question, anyone would think that a final decision had been taken and the plant is going to open tomorrow. We know, in fact, that this is very much the beginning of a process. Cabinet has approved a proposal to lease land at Port Bonython to Deepak Fertilizers for three years, which will enable the company to undertake a multifaceted feasibility study for the potential development of an ammonium nitrate manufacturing plant in South Australia.

That will, of course, involve some role for my agency, SafeWork SA, given that it administers dangerous substances and explosives legislation in this state. Deepak is considering a site near Port Bonython, 20 kilometres or so east-north-east of Whyalla, as the location for the plant, so SafeWork officials will be involved, as will, I am sure, various environmental officials in assessing any potential application for this plant to go ahead. It is important to note that I am advised that SafeWork SA is yet to receive a licence application which would provide a lot more information that they would be able to assess in terms of the health and safety aspect. Similarly, I am sure environmental authorities would have a lot of work to do in relation to this project.

So, what the government has done is approve a proposal to lease land to Deepak Fertilizers for three years to enable them to do a proper feasibility study. Whether or not this plant will end up going ahead will be subject to a whole range of matters, including the health and safety aspects, environmental aspects, consultation with the community and with the council and, ultimately, the economic interests of the company and whether they will ultimately want the project to go ahead.

What is important, I think, to note is that, whether this particular project goes ahead or not, we all know that providing jobs and economic growth in regional South Australia is absolutely pivotal to the survival of particular areas. We know that there are quite a number of towns or cities in the north of the state that used to rely very heavily on one or two particular industrial plants there. While some of those plants are still going and provide a source of significant employment and economic activity, we know that there used to be many more thousands of people employed in some of those plants than there are now.

What is important is that the government facilitates economic development and growth in those regional areas to provide an employment base because, without that, you are really going to have difficulty in sustaining the communities and making sure that there are jobs for people to take up. I think it is fair to say that we have seen in the last decade that a lot of these areas like Whyalla, Port Augusta and Port Pirie have enjoyed something of a resurgence. They are largely doing better than they were in an economic sense, and there has been a lot of development both in residential and retail and in a whole range of areas.

If the company ends up making the appropriate applications to build the plant and to license it and so on, then of course there will be many assessments and licence provisions that will have to be complied with both from a safety perspective and an environmental perspective before any such project could go ahead, but ultimately we do want to see projects in regional South Australia that will provide economic activity and a jobs base.